MIAMI – Vicky Bakery, which has been a part of the South Florida community for over 49 years, is now offering franchising opportunities for the first time since expanding.
However, the bakery, which now has over 17 locations, didn’t always look this way.
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What began as a love story over 50 years ago, founders Antonio and Gelasia Cao met while working at Cuba’s most renowned bakery at the time, La Vencedora, in the late 1950s. They soon got married.
However, their dreams of prospering together in Cuba were quickly cut short. Due to the political regime under Fidel Castro who took over the island nation in 1959, the couple was forced to immigrate to Miami as political exiles in order for a chance at freedom.
“We left our querida isla in the 60s when the Castro Revolution wanted to wipe away our dreams, but a piece of our heart is still home at La Vencedora on the corner of Calzada Avenue and Real Street,” the bakery recently posted on Instagram in wake of the current political uprising in Cuba. “We’ll never forget the friends, family, and home we left behind.”
Despite moving to a new country with a new language, the couple saved enough money to purchase their first bakery in Hialeah.
In 1972, they opened Vicky Bakery.
“I started making pastries here the way I made them in Cuba, and they’ve been incredibly successful,” Antonio said. “To this day, we haven’t changed the recipe, and to this day it continues to be one of the better pastries that my clients say they have eaten.”
Vicky Bakery has remained a family business, and their children have expanded the bakery to 17 different locations across South Florida, with plans to continue expanding.
And now, in 2021, their dreams have reached the national scale.
“Vicky Bakery has worked hard to build the brand, streamline the process, and establish recognition as an authentic Cuban bakery,” explained the bakery. “Franchisees will experience a smooth transition to entrepreneurship, benefitting from the years of hard work and success Vicky Bakery has achieved. Vicky Bakery is looking for an exclusive group of franchisees to become part of their extended family.”
If you are interested in learning more about Vicky Bakery, click here.